Standing By The River's Edge
by PeachyKeen13
Summary: After Snape dies, he wakes up at Spinner's End. Not sure where he is or when he is, he looks out to see his best friend standing by the river's edge, and she's not feeling the way he expected. Is this really a second chance? One-shot; R&R!


Standing By The River's Edge

Disclaimer: I Don't Own HP(:

A/N: Just an idea that popped in my head...a one-shot(:

FULL SUMMARY: After Snape dies, he wakes up at Spinner's End. Not sure where he is or when he is, he looks out to see his best friend standing by the river's edge, and she's not feeling the way he expected. Is this really a second chance?

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><p>When Severus Snape woke up, he was sure that he was dead.<p>

He remembered so vividly the terrible bites he'd recieved from Nagini, the terrible pain he'd had to endure and...her eyes. Lily's eyes...

That was the last thing he remembered. So needless to say, he was a bit shocked when he felt a soft blanket beneath him.

Snape rubbed his eyes and pinched his arm to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't. He looked around, and gasped; he was in his old room! In his old house on Spinner's End! How was it possible? Was this Fate giving him another chance?

_Obviously not_. Snape bitterly thought to himself. _If Fate was giving me another chance, I would have been sent back before this. But according to this calendar...this is the Summer after my fifth year. Lily absolutely loathes me._

Snape sighed, and stood up, trying to get used to being in his sixteen year old body. Sighing, a sudden thought occured to him, and he rolled up his sleeve.

It wasn't there. Not Dark Mark. He was free.

Looking out the window to his room, Snape had a clear view of the river he'd loved so much. He saw the trees and the grass. And he also saw...

A bush of fiery red hair standing at the river's edge.

Heart pounding like a jack hammer, Snape raced to get changed. He ran out his front door, and down to the river as fast as his feet would carry him.

At first, he didn't make his presence to her known. He just stood behind one of the many bushes, and listened to her talk to herself. It was evident that she was crying.

"...have no one. I hate this! My own sister, loathing me! And it's no one's fault but my own...also like it's my own fault that I'm not venting about this to Sev right now. He made a mistake for Merlin's sake! People make mistakes all the time, and here I am, acting like he murdered _Dumbledore_! I mean, honestly, how stupid can I be? It just slipped out! He was angry and upset...I've let some nasty swears slip when Tuni makes me mad. I should apologize...no, no, no...he probably won't ever speak to me again...it'll be all my fault if he does something stupid now, all me..."

Snape sucked in a shocked breath. How could Lily truly have felt that way? So alone and vulnerable...

Snape couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from behind the bush and said, "If I do something stupid, it's of my own accord, and not yours."

Lily jumped, obviously startled, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh...you." she mumbled. She paused before asking, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to try and make this right." Snape said. "Lily...how could you ever think that I would never want to speak to you again? And how can you even justify my calling you such a terrible name? You're too good, I've always know that, but _this_...this is beyond anything..." Snape trailed off, thinking of Lily's perfection.

"Sev...I'm sorry." Lily whimpered, sinking to the ground and putting her face in her hands. "I'm so stupid..."

"Don't you ever think that!" Snape said, going down to sit beside his best friend. He contemplated putting his arm around her, but decided better of it; also like he decided not to look into her eyes...for if it was all, really, just a dream...seeing her eyes would kill him more terribly than Nagini had.

"Sev...why are you acting so strangely? So differently? Did something happen at home?" Lily asked. That was her - always thinking of others before herself.

"I had...a dream." Snape said. "A very, very intense dream...I don't know if it really _was _a dream, in fact.."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I mean...I lived my whole life, right up until my death. After I died...I woke up. Here. And I see you, standing here, at the river's edge." Snape responded.

"What happened in your dream that's making you seem so protective of me? No, don't deny it - you're re-angling yourself everytime I move an inch." Lily paused before turning to Snape further and saying, "Sev, you can tell me anything; you know that."

Snape sighed. Should he tell her?

"Well," he began. "It started with that...incident, a few weeks back. You ended up...hating me. Forever. And then you started dating _Potter_, and you got married, and had a son."

Lily's face was already contorted in disgust at that point, but Severus continued. "I became a...a Death Eater. But I found out that he...that Voldemort...was going to hunt you and your family down to kill you. I tried to stop him, I really did, Lily! But...I failed." Snape bowed his head, and wiped away the tear that had dared to escape his eye. "I-I found you and you were dead. Gone. Trying to...atone myself, I suppose, I agreed to look after your son. He was just like James, exactly like him, except...he had your eyes. And...well, there's too much to go into detail at the moment, but the point is, I was killed in a terirble war that was raging on at Hogwarts. It felt so real...maybe it was..."

"Sev...no. There's no way." Lily said, putting her arms around her best friend. "First off...honestly, do you ever think I'd marry _Potter_? Eh, not likely. Secondly, I could never hate you. Ever. Third...well, honestly, I can't think of a third, but that's quite an unprobably reality Sev. I promise."

"Lily..." Severus moaned, hitting his head against the ground.

"Sev, don't. Please. I-I don't want to see you so upset. There's no reason for it. That'll never happen, I promise." Lily assured, running her fingers through Severus's hair in a comforting motion.

Severus looked up at her - and thought. In this 'dream', his older self had only wished for a moment like that to happen again. It was unending and perfect, and Severus never wanted it to end. He searched his best friend for any sign that she was only saying the things that she was to make him feel better, but there was only sincerity in her eyes.

The eyes he had dreamt of for twenty years, even if it had really only been one night.

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><p>Vague? Lil bit. Au? Almost. But I hope you liked it anyway(: Review please! Oh, and sorry if this is confusing, it's meant to be:) More like that thing you have to read a few times to fully understand, but I hope it was okay anyway:) It's just like you're not sure if his life was a dream or not, that's the optimism in it:) Okay, enough ranting; thanks for reading!<p>

~PeachyKeen13


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